Verizon can't activate a phone they sent me?!?!?

I got my iPhone 5 today it is a second line on my plan and had a ship by date of 11/16 and well I can't use it as a phone? Verizon says they can't activate it until the ship date? Has any one else had this issue? It seems strange to me that a company who makes its money providing cell service cant activate a phone..

Re: Verizon can't activate a phone they sent me?!?!?

jayblazer, sorry i didn't see this sooner. i had the same issue since my ship date was the 16th but I got it on the 14th. When I called verizon, they transferred me over to telesales, and they sent out an email to activations department to let it activate now. after about 15 minutes, I saw the new line appearing on my account so I was able to activate it. They should be able to let you activate it after you receive it.

Re: Verizon can't activate a phone they sent me?!?!?

This happened to me to. Apparently they lock the ESN to prevent theft during transit. I guess it is more likely that if someone tries to steal it and activate it, Verizon will figure out what has happened. It sucked because I got my 5 a full 4 days before the ship date said.